This is an area of incredible sunsets and this year has been a place where we've been able to see the International Space Station fly over in its orbit as well as meteors falling that are a part of the Persied Meteor Shower.

Friday night found us around the campfire being entertained by Amy Hindman, a local La Conner performing artist. As she did last year, she invited Al to join her with his uke. It's always fun watching him perform.

This Thousand Trails campground is located on the Swinomish Indian Reservation. The island with the lone pine tree, that is accessible at low tide, is where we watch them seine fishing every other year.

Though we haven't had a lot of warm sunny days here, we have been able to sit out and carve and craft a few times. Our campsite has a view of the water through the trees. Not as nice as our favorite site but we can at least see the water!

Our neighbor has built this piece of art that is quickly getting burned up at campfires. It's his own version of the game of Jenga. He dared me to remove one of the middle pieces - I thought about it for a while but decided not to wreck his work of art! It's been fun sitting around his campfire listening to Al serenade us and...

The healing totem was the brainchild of carver Tsul-ton of the Samish Tribe last October after the trestle fire on the Tommy Thompson Trail . It was his thought that through this totem the person who started the fire would heal as would those who love the trail. The tribe decided after the refinery explosion that it would also honor those seven workers who perished. The eagle on the top is there to protect, the sun is the symbol of healing and the frogs represent longevity.

A trip to this area just isn't complete without going to Cap Sante where one has an incredible view of the Anacortes harbor, the refineries and, on a clear day such as this, beautiful Mount Baker that rises 10,778 feet and is always covered in snow.

There are two sections of the Deception Pass Bridge. One goes from Fidalgo Island to Pass Island over Canoe Pass and another that goes from Pass Island to Whidbey Island. The bridge was dedicated on July 31, 1935 and is 180 feet above swirling, turbulent Deception Pass. It took only a year to build and is recognized for its engineering and architecture that compliments the scenic and geologic wonder of this pass.

Believe it or not, this research boat was collecting whale poop! Every time they got some, they stored it for later research and actually changed to a clean net. One has to wonder what they were actually looking for!

We got to go through Deception Pass one more time as we headed toward the launch area. Captain Rudy planned things really well so that it was a slack tide which meant and easier passage though this dangerous pass.